We do the same with screen time (older kids though). On summer vacation screen time is 10-11am. After that they (11 & 14) can play or ride their bikes or figure out a project. Same as you I found the boundary easier to hold when it was a defined time as opposed to 20 minutes whenever.
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Yeah we have screen time boundaries as during hygiene tasks, i.e. to get a diaper change done or a song to help her brush her teeth to, and then right before dinner. So actively while weāre cooking. I feel like having the structure of specific events happening helps her to conceptualize more than time at her age. But I do feel like as I get older time can be a good one as long as theyāre not the type of kid that sees arbitrary rules as a challenge. 
although obviously Iām not trying to get work done while sheās also at home, so that would make things certainly more tricky. Also trying to have different rules on weekdays and weekends can be understandably pretty difficult for them. But I think the biggest take away from stuff Iāve read is just having it be predictable and structured rather than kind of arbitrarily come and go in a way that they canāt predict
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Oh whoops mine was supposed to be a reply to Meerkat not you!
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Yeah screens were off he justā¦ Didnāt want to leave the house.
I did get him out later to do"chemistry," which is an outdoor activity because of mess, but then heās just standing there rather than the active playing of a playground. Then Mr. Meer played in the backyard with him playing with the hose which is more active but is a shorter timeframe because he gets cold. This week heāll be back in school (two recesses a day) and weāre starting swim lessons so thatāll help short term.
Oh, on the novelty thing - one of the parks offered was a familiar one with lots of cool stuff and another one was a park he hasnāt been to in over two years so it should have been novel! Dang it kid stop foiling my tactics. On a recent weekend Kiddo almost got grounded because we wanted to do a family outing to a rescue farm and he didnāt want to go. He used to be all about novel experiences!
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I think you did everything right!
My kid is way younger than yours and every kid is different, but Iāve very much noticed that he already needs a certain number of fully at home down days. And right now heās not that open to outside time being part of that. Iām hoping that as we increase our outside time with the weather his idea of downtime at home includes the backyard at least, but if it doesnātā¦ me too kid. I need pyjama days too.
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It was warm out! We went out after work, and stayed out all four hours until bed. Including half an hour of screen time. But outdoor screen time is probably better than indoors?
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Adults had about 3h of the workday outside, and the kid rode home from school on a bike (30 min?) and then 3h outside. So 3.5 for the little and 6 for the bigs.
Includes one hour of Clifford on YouTube and for adults laptops doing work. Still better for circadian rhythm and stuff than Clifford on the indoor sofa. Probably. Less indoor mess
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Weāre on vacation in the mountains and Iām hoping that means most of the days spent outside. Yesterday we had fun exploring a nature center but today there were ma y toddler meltdowns so weāve ended up at a very nice (empty) community park and Pipsqueak has been on the swings for the last 25 minutes. At least itās a beautiful park!
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Hope this helps someone! These plants all look alike and you shouldnāt grab any of them 
wear gloves if you need to weed them and donāt let the kiddos play umbrella with them lol.
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Ok ive seen Queen Anneās lace sold here for garden beds so I will scratch that off my list to buy.
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Thatās hilarious to me since itās a prolific weed here. Iāve always thought itās pretty, but itās definitely considered undesirable.
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My grandma has Queen Anneās lace in her garden! Itās funny I saw the first one and I was like, hmm that looks like QAL - then they all did! Iāve never heard of it being dangerous to anyone
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Coriander and carrot flowers look the same
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My sister picked some hemlock a few weeks ago thinking it might be parsley (thankfully we looked it up before she tasted it!). She was totally fine, thankfully, but it was a nervewracking couple of hours.
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oh noooo
The heat has finally broken for a few days so weāve been outside most of the weekend!
A few weeks ago we found a Koi pond in a business park close to our house. It was a big hit on a morning walk this morning!
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Jackpot!!
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What an awesome win! What app did u use
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